Set in the ordinary, but non-existent town of Almost in the state of Maine, the two-act play Almost, Maine, by AUTHOR, gives a glimpse into the lives of different town residents at 9pm— the moment when a display of aurora borealis lights up above the town on one special evening. Each of the residents’ situations centers around some aspect of romantic love from old and new friends, ex-partners, and even strangers. In the beginning of the script, AUTHOR explains that the location and time are important factors that should help the audience with understanding the story, or, “what happens to people in a heartbeat.” AUTHOR’s fictional setting allows him to explore love through extraordinary, ironic events happening to each resident in their situation.The …show more content…
blocking in the script contains useful context for imagining each situation, but the live play introduces the human details that connect the events of each scene to the ultimate message conveyed on the stage. Almost, Maine is a piece of art that imitates and parodies life in order to explore the idea of love in different relationships; the script is written with absurdity to vividly outline the spectrum of romance, while the performance physicalizes and exaggerates the nuances within that spectrum. In the prologue, a long-term couple, Pete and Ginette, are spending time at a park.
In the live play, their awkward conversation and reactions to each other are childlike, suggesting that they are still navigating initial relationship boundaries. In the script however, the ambiguity in tone leaves room for interpretation. When Pete starts discussing the topology of the world, he jokes that two people are furthest away when they’re sitting right next to each other, if you measure the other way around the world. This sets up the play’s commentary on how perspective influences individuals’ ideas of reality, a fact at the center of friendship and love. The scene ends with the joke not working in Pete’s favor and Ginette walking away; or from Pete’s perspective, getting closer with one another. The way in which the joke plays out is uncertain when reading the play. With no visual context, simply reading the joke does not provide the same emotional impact as seeing him explain his joke using a snowball to represent the world. Ginette’s exit drives the joke home however, in the live performance of the …show more content…
play. Absurdity is the most powerful device used to communicate the message of Almost, Maine, and it works exceptionally well on stage. In the scene “Where it Went,” tension simmers and boils over between Phil and Marci due to Phil’s inability to participate in and remember important days in their relationship. Marci loses one of her shoes and uses the loss as an outlet for her anger and dissatisfaction in their marriage. Reading the script, it obvious that their relationship is not compatible, but it’s only after her missing shoe absurdly falls from the sky that they both can admit they are unhappy together. This example pays homage to relationships that get sour and become dysfunctional, and examines the friction created on the path to realizing a relationship is not what it used to be. Though all the scenes had elements of absurdism, “They Fell” and “Getting it Back” are particularly great examples. The script in “They Fell” depicts two best friends, Chad and Randy, discussing the troubles they’ve had with dating. Their dynamic in the live play is infectious and even presents an ideal friendship to aspire to. Chad suddenly realizes that he has actually fallen in love with Randy and begins to literally and uncontrollably fall to the ground, in an absurd visual pun. Though this makes Randy uncomfortable at first, he too realizes that he is indeed in love with Chad and they both begin collapsing to the ground with loud thuds in the live play. The sound of bodies hitting the theater stage brings a visceral excitement that recalls the absurd vulnerability of revealing suppressed feelings, while the density of the stage directions in the written play makes this passage nearly unreadable. The setting of Almost, Maine is the blank canvas on which the author successfully relays the range that can exist in romantic relationships. The only flat character in the play is the town, Almost. Almost every other character depicted in Almost is somewhat rounded and dynamic. In the live play, even the incidental waitress in “Sad and Glad” has a changing eureka moment at the end of the scene when Jimmy charmingly exclaims her name. AUTHOR’s description of this cold, snowy, Maine town creates valid exposition to the characters’ conflicts. In “Seeing The Thing,” Rhonda taunts Dave after she beats him in a snowmobile race. Though her character is stated in the description as tough, her masculinity radiates through the theater in the live play, sharply contrasting Dave’s non-confrontational personality. Rhonda’s actions and reactions to Dave’s kiss in the script lay the ground for her honest spirit. Especially at the end of the scene, when they remove each others’ snows boots, and separately undress themselves after Dave hinted that he wanted to have sex with her. The ecstasy that can be enjoyed in new intimacy is humorously paralleled in their rapid and explosive race to strip their clothes in the live play. Both the snowmobile race and the clothing race, relate back to the chilly setting. Snowmobiling is a hobby specific to people living an environment like Almost, the jumping point in Dave and Rhonda’s scene. And in the live play, the snowy set supported the humor in Rhonda and Dave eagerly trying to remove comically exaggerated layers of clothing. Maybe the most significant use of setting is AUTHOR’s emphasis on Almost being a normal, northern town.
The odd behaviors from the characters would not be as humorous and shocking if Almost was supposed to be a special, eclectic, unique town. AUTHOR also mentions that the northern lights appear at the climax of each scene. He describes the lights as an occurrence during solar storms when electrons racing toward earth’s atmosphere collide with atoms and become excited, undoubtedly relating the beauty, connection, and wonder of the lights to any romantic relationship. The choice to emphasize Almost as ‘normal,’ maintains the suspension of disbelief that is needed for an impactful delivery when using a literary device like
absurdism. The tension of the unresolved introduction is finally satisfied in the closing scene, when Ginette enters back into the park from the opposite wing that she exited in the first act. Pete has begun to walk away as she enters, so she throws a snowball in his direction. They embrace and are ‘close’ now that Ginette has walked all the way around the world, while the Northern Lights ripple above their heads. The absurdity of the perspectives of lovers is validated by the suggestion that Ginette was able to circumnavigate the globe for love, and then the couple is able to embrace with an ease that did not exist before. An audience member becomes relieved to see their tension resolve into a healthy expression of mutual feelings, and gains comfort in the story: the same comfort that can be provided when we experience closure or mutual feelings with another person. Pete and Ginette’s scene is written to imagine the struggle in expressing fresh feelings in a young relationship. The live play drives the point home by challenging the objectivity of what ‘closeness’ is in a relationship, what it takes to achieve that ‘closeness’, and invoking the pleasure in receiving affirmation in the self-contained, absurd world created by people in love.
While walking downtown with her girlfriend, the author describes as, “[her] heart began to skip every other beat, pounding, pounding, pounding … [as she stood] paralyzed like a frightened, little jackrabbit.” Repetition of the word “pounding” in the text develops a fast pace, indicating the urgency and panic felt by the author; terms such as paralyzed are utilized to emphasize the urgent, panicked mood. However, sanguine moods still persist throughout the narrative. For example, in the opening paragraph the author describes how she, “watch[ed] the golden dots of morning light glide across [her] ceiling, [and she] melted into a feeling of peace specific to the freedom of early summer.” Terms such as “golden,” “glide,” “peace,” and “early summer” help the reader detect a placid mood in the text, directing the reader towards the state of contentment the author feels surrounding her relationship. Mood differentiations in the text, from the urgency of the narrator’s walk downtown to the tranquil peace of the narrator’s relationship, indicate the contrasting aspects of the LGBT+ community, both in terms of the impending fear of violence, and the love that is the
"Love in L.A.," written by Dagoberto Gilb, is a story full of irony and multiple themes. The story is set in Hollywood during the summer time. Written in third person objective, "Love in L.A." guides the reader along through the story as opposed to an omniscient point of view.
“Love in L.A.” uses irony to teach its readers, showing us that unless we put in the time and effort, we will not reach our goals. Jake wanted better for his life but didn’t want to do what it took to get that better life. Instead of Jake is going for it, he spent all of his time daydreaming and lying instead of growing up and working for it. It is clear Jake has been stuck in this phase of his life for a long time. In fear of loosing his freedom in life, Jake made his life harder than what it needed to
young lovers, or is this his personal commentary on their union, harking to an inspirational writer
“Like a river flows so surely to the sea darling, so it goes some things are meant to be.” In literature there have been a copious amount of works that can be attributed to the theme of love and marriage. These works convey the thoughts and actions in which we as people handle every day, and are meant to depict how both love and marriage can effect one’s life. This theme is evident in both “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman; both stories have the underlying theme of love and marriage, but are interpreted in different ways. Both in “The Storm” and in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the women are the main focus of the story. In “The Storm” you have Calixta, a seemingly happy married woman who cheats on her husband with an “old-time infatuation” during a storm, and then proceeds to go about the rest of her day as if nothing has happened when her husband and son return. Then you have “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the narrator—who remains nameless—is basically kept prisoner in her own house by her husband and eventually is driven to the point of insanity.
One of the main symbols of the story is the setting. It takes place in a normal small town on a nice summer day. "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green." (Jackson 347).This tricks the reader into a disturbingly unaware state,
All relationships go through both good and bad times. Some last through the ages, while others quickly fall into nothing. In Terrence McNally’s “Lips Together, Teeth Apart,” the heart of this haunting play is a dramatically incisive portrait of two married couples—the Truman’s and the Haddocks. Uncomfortable with themselves and each other, they are forced to spend a Fourth of July weekend at the Fire Island house that the brother of one of the women left his sister when he died of AIDS. Though the house is beautiful, it is as empty as their lives and marriages have become, a symbol of their failed hopes, their rage, their fears, and of the capricious nature of death. The theme of love and death in relationships is quickly developed, as well as an overwhelming fear of homophobia. The two couples McNally brings to life are both going through rough patches in their marriages. While Chloe and John are fighting through John’s esophagus cancer, Sally and Sam are expecting and fearful that this time it will be another miscarriage. Showing how society has struck fear into the couples about AIDS. While everyone except John is worried about catching “AIDS,” the play begins to unveil troubled marriages as well as superficial values and prejudices.
Love, one of the biggest aspects of human nature, affects everyone in different ways. In the novel by Stephen Chbosky, “the Perks of Being a Wallflower,” the main character Charlie, negatively affected by his loving relationship with his aunt Helen, develops many social issues. The novel, a coming of age story about overcoming many obstacles as a teenager, follows the main character, Charlie, and the challenges he faces. Throughout the story, Charlie struggles with the loss of his beloved aunt. When he begins High school, he has a harder time than the typical teenager for many reasons. His close relationship with his beloved aunt is the source of his companionship issues, depression, and insecurities.
“How do they do it, the ones who make love without love?” (1-2) The speaker plunges right into the poem with a question that remains unanswered and sets the theme of the play. The speaker later repeats the question, wondering how the lovers can achieve their ecstasy, how they can see “God” in their climax and then the “still waters” (8-13) of the afterglow without some sort of deep emotional connection with their fellow adventurer.
Gaitskill’s “Tiny, Smiling Daddy” focuses on the father and his downward spiral of feeling further disconnected with his family, especially his lesbian daughter, whose article on father-daughter relationships stands as the catalyst for the father’s realization that he’d wronged his daughter and destroyed their relationship. Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” focuses on Mel and his attempt to define, compare, and contrast romantic love, while leaving him drunk and confused as he was before. While both of my stories explore how afflicted love traumatizes the psyche and seem to agree that love poses the greatest dilemma in life, and at the same time that it’s the most valued prospect of life, the two stories differ in that frustrated familial love causes Gaitskill's protagonist to become understandable and consequently evokes sympathy from the reader, but on the other hand frustrated romantic love does nothing for Carver's Protagonist, except keep him disconnected from his wife and leaving him unchanged, remaining static as a character and overall unlikable. In comparing “Tiny, Smiling Daddy” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, together they suggest that familial love is more important than romantic love, which we relentlessly strive to achieve often forgetting that we’ll forever feel alone without familial love, arguably the origin of love itself.
Now that the play, “Post-its (Notes on a Marriage),” could make the audience react to feel distanced and questionable of the actions of the characters, how can that relate to everyday life? traits of the play Post-its (Notes on a Marriage) through staging and conversation,
There exists no power as inexplicable as that of love. Love cannot be described in a traditional fashion; it is something that must be experienced in order for one to truly grasp its full enormity. It is the one emotion that can lead human beings to perform acts they are not usually capable of and to make sacrifices with no thought of the outcome or repercussions. Though love is full of unanswered questions and indescribable emotions, one of the most mystifying aspects of love is its timeless nature. Love is the one emotion, unlike superficial sentiments such as lust or jealousy, which can survive for years, or even generations. In the novel The Gargoyle, the author, Andrew Davidson, explores the idea of eternal love between two people, a union that spans over centuries spent both together and apart. Davidson, through the use of flashbacks, intricate plot development and foreshadowing, and dynamic characterization, creates a story that challenges the reader’s preconceived notions regarding whether eternal love can survive even when time’s inevitable grasp separates the individuals in question.
In this essay I would like to emphasize different ideas of how love is understood and discussed in literature. This topic has been immortal. One can notice that throughout the whole history writers have always been returning to this subject no matter what century people lived in or what their nationality was.
An ironic ending is also foretold by the town’s setting being described as one of normalcy. The town square is described as being “between the post office and the bank;” every normal town has these buildings, which are essential for day-to-day functioning. The townspeople also establish a normal, comfortable setting for the story. The children are doing what all typical kids do, playing boisterously and gathering rocks. The woman of the town are doing what all stereotypical females do, “exchang[ing] bits of gossip.” The men are being average males by chatting about boring day-to-day tasks like “planting and rain, tractors and taxes.”
Fairytales and modern day movies project a stereotypical portrayal of love, idealizing it and ignoring the not so happy ever after when the prince and princess go back to their castle. Walker and Salinger in their respective novels present the idea of love with much more verisimilitude without the traditional symbols of castles and titles. Instead, opting for a warts and all exploration of love, focusing on its utopian and dystopian elements. Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ is a tale of a black woman who is driven to lesbian love due to the abuse undertaken by men. J. D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, similarly speaks of a sexually frustrated young man not able to fulfill his desires due to societal constraints. Both the novels encapsulate realistic elements of love like the healing and harmful effects it can have on humans; we see all the pure forms of love as juxtaposed through the plot line with the absence of parental love, love between siblings and homosexual love. But, through all of the toils begotten by both Celie and Holden, love is a constant. ‘’Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres’’.